The internet refuses to give Garrett Borden a honeymoon phase
If you spent your Sunday furiously refreshing wrestling Twitter or diving into the deeper, more unhinged threads on Reddit, you definitely noticed a familiar name trending. Garrett Borden officially stepped into the spotlight this weekend.
The son of the legendary Sting laced up his boots under the Rhodes Wrestling Academy banner at their Final Reckoning event. He picked up a victory, and predictably, he pulled out a Stinger Splash in the corner to seal the deal.
The moment that short clip hit social media, the community completely lost its mind. Wrestling fans are a notoriously brutal demographic to please at the best of times. Nothing triggers our absolute worst instincts quite like a second-generation wrestler stepping through the ropes to use his dad's moves.
Half of your timeline was probably drowning in pure, unadulterated nostalgia. The other half immediately fired up the nepotism discourse. They started aggressively analyzing the footwork of a guy who is barely starting his career.
Let's break down exactly what the fanbase is arguing about today, because the reactions say way more about modern wrestling culture than they do about Borden himself.
Nostalgia is still the strongest drug in the business
We have to start with the optimists. For a massive chunk of the audience, seeing a Borden launch himself into the turnbuckles on a Sunday afternoon was a direct shot of dopamine. Sting just wrapped up a historic, violent career in AEW. The idea of his bloodline continuing that legacy is undeniably awesome for longtime fans.
The most heavily upvoted takes on the internet were completely overwhelmed by emotion. Fans openly admitted that watching the kid hit that splash genuinely choked them up. They argued that starting his journey at the Rhodes Wrestling Academy is the smartest possible move.
He is training under Dustin Rhodes, a man who knows exactly what it takes to escape the suffocating shadow of a legendary father. The fierce defenders are entirely right to point out that professional wrestling literally runs on this specific type of generational storytelling.
When the crowd saw him setting up for the splash, they popped out of their chairs. That is the entire fundamental point of the wrestling business. You use the tools available to you to get a reaction from the paying audience.
If your dad is the Icon, you absolutely use his signature move early on to pop the local crowd. It is basic, effective psychology.
However, even among the fiercely positive comments, there was a noticeable undercurrent of anxiety. Fans desperately want him to succeed. They also vividly remember how brutally the industry has destroyed the offspring of legends who couldn't immediately deliver five-star classics.
The skeptics are already exhausted by the tribute act
On the flip side, the hardcore cynics wasted absolutely no time tearing into the footage. Their primary criticism is that relying on his dad's moveset right out of the gate is a glaring red flag. The internet is a ruthless place.
Many vocal fans felt the Stinger Splash was a cheap, unearned pop rather than a sign of actual foundational talent. You could easily spot these critics aggressively arguing that relying on a tribute act is a guaranteed path to failure.
The prevailing counter-argument warned that if Garrett coasts on his famous last name, he will inevitably end up as a cautionary tale. Fans pointed out that we do not need another guy relying on nostalgia to mask green ring work.
"Garrett Borden, the son of WWE Hall of Famer Sting, used his father’s Stinger Splash en route to winning his debut match."
That quote from WrestleTalk perfectly captures the media angle, but the hardcore fans see it differently. They are terrified of a permanent cover band routine. They expect second-generation wrestlers to be fundamentally sound from day one.
If they aren't, the internet turns on them incredibly fast. We saw it with Brian Pillman Jr. early on, and we have seen it with countless others. The moment you remind people of your dad, you invite direct, unfair comparisons to a Hall of Fame career.
The brutal contrast of the Worcester indies
If you want to understand why a vocal segment of fans is so fiercely protective of the traditional path, you only had to look at a completely different show that happened on Saturday. Up in Worcester, Massachusetts, Pro Wrestling Junkie ran a live event on May 16. That show perfectly encapsulated the miserable, beautiful struggle of the lower card.
There was no legacy royalty on that card in Worcester. It was just a group of desperate, hungry workers tearing each other apart in front of a notoriously tough New England crowd.
They were taking insane bumps onto hard mats and working through botched spots. They were all trying to build a name from absolute scratch without the benefit of a famous dad.
When angry Twitter users demand that Garrett Borden pay his dues, this is exactly what they are talking about. A guy grinding it out in Worcester doesn't get a viral clip for doing a basic corner splash. He has to risk his neck on a springboard maneuver just to get a polite golf clap.
This stark contrast is what fuels the resentment you see in the replies. Fans respect the Worcester grind. They are inherently suspicious of the Academy fast-track.
Moxley proves the grind still matters
This entire debate highlighted another major piece of news from the weekend. While people were fighting about Borden's debut, F4WOnline reported that Jon Moxley is returning to Pro Wrestling Revolver in July. This announcement actually bled into the Borden conversation in a really fascinating way.
Moxley is a multi-time world champion. He is one of the highest-paid television stars in the industry. Yet, he still actively chooses to go back to the filthy independent circuit.
He bleeds in front of a few hundred sweaty people in the middle of summer because he genuinely loves the grind. The fans respect him immensely for refusing to get comfortable.
Several prominent accounts used Moxley's upcoming Revolver date as a blunt instrument to criticize the modern developmental system. The core argument was that Garrett Borden needs to go work places like Revolver or GCW. He needs to wrestle in front of hostile crowds that do not care who his dad is.
There is immense merit to this argument. The Rhodes Wrestling Academy is a fantastic facility, but it is still a highly controlled, safe environment.
If Borden is serious about this profession, he cannot just wrestle showcase matches. He has to take bookings in terrible buildings with awful lighting. He has to earn the respect of a cynical locker room, not just inherit the goodwill of a nostalgic audience.
Where does the kid go from here?
So, who is actually right? The nostalgic fans celebrating the splash, or the cynics demanding immediate originality?
Honestly, the skeptics have the stronger argument in the long run. The debut at Rhodes Wrestling Academy on May 17 was a nice, feel-good moment. Hitting the Stinger Splash was a smart piece of fan service for the people sitting in those specific chairs.
But the internet reaction proves that goodwill expires incredibly quickly. You get exactly one free pass for the tribute act.
Borden is stepping into a wildly unforgiving environment. He does not have the luxury of quietly figuring things out in untelevised dark matches. Every single step he takes is going to be clipped, uploaded, and analyzed by thousands of people who think they know how to book a wrestling show.
He needs to look at guys like Cody Rhodes or Randy Orton. They acknowledged their families, but they aggressively forged their own bizarre, distinct personalities. If Garrett Borden just wants to be a fun nostalgia act on local shows, the Stinger Splash will serve him perfectly fine. If he wants to survive the modern fan base and eventually make it to a national television product, he needs to lock the Stinger Splash in a vault and throw away the key.
The internet has spoken, and they are surprisingly unified on the ultimate conclusion. We loved the splash yesterday. We will actively resent it tomorrow.
Welcome to professional wrestling, kid. Try your absolute hardest not to read the comments.
